Rattle and Hum

Rattle and Hum refers to both a motion picture about the band U2 and its companion album, documenting the band's 1987 Joshua Tree Tour of the United States and its exploration into American music.

History

The movie is a rockumentary, released in theaters in 1988 and on video in 1989. It was produced by Michael Hamlyn and directed by Phil Joanou. It incorporates live footage with studio outtakes and band interviews. It is criticized for being overwrought and pretentious and for attempting to elevate the band into the rock pantheon by paying tribute to (and playing with) their musical heroes. Nevertheless, fans regard it as a solid concert film that finds the jovial band members somewhat overwhelmed by the sudden success The Joshua Tree brought them.

The album is a hodgepodge of live material and new studio recordings that further the band's experimentation with American music styles and recognize many of their musical influences. It was produced by Jimmy Iovine and also released in 1988 (see 1988 in music).

"and Hum was conceived as a scrapbook, a memento of that time spent in America on the Joshua Tree tour. It changed when the movie, which was initially conceived of as a low-budget film, suddenly became a big Hollywood affair. That put a different emphasis on the album, which suffered from the huge promotion and publicity, and people reacted against it." --The Edge, ^*

Because of its chaotic presentation and its unfortunate placement between the much more groundbreaking The Joshua Tree and Achtung Baby, it is one of the more overlooked albums in their catalogue. At the time, the album and film were derided as self-indulgent by many critics who claimed U2 was trying to enshrine itself in the great pantheon of rock legends (influences ranging from B.B. King, Elvis Presley, Jerry Lee Lewis, Johnny Cash, Bob Dylan, The Rolling Stones, and The Beatles are all referenced in the project) as opposed to honoring its newly-found influences. Many found the project--with its focus on earnest roots music and its many political sequiters--to be too serious.

Others, to the contrary, find the album to be a fine representation of a great band at the height of its artistic powers and popular influence. To date it has sold nearly ten million copies worldwide and earned the band its first number one single in the UK, "Desire".

Due to the poor reception of Rattle and Hum, the band announced at one of their last tour dates in the eighties that they needed to go away for a while to "dream it all up again". Many fans feared the band was going to split up, which it nearly did. Instead, the band took a drastic change in direction with 1991's Achtung Baby.

Studio recordings

Most of the tracks on the album pay homage in some way to the rootsy influences the band discovered while recording 1987's The Joshua Tree. The album itself takes its name from a lyric in The Joshua Tree's fourth track "Bullet the Blue Sky."

The album opens with a live cover of "Helter Skelter" (which Bono infamously introduces as "a song Charles Manson stole from The Beatles...we're stealing it back"). It also has a live version of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower", which can be seen as a dual tribute to Dylan and to Jimi Hendrix, who popularized the song with his own blistering rendition. Aside from the covers, a couple of songs were written for other artists. "Angel of Harlem" is a vivacious, horn-filled tribute to Billie Holiday. The bass-heavy "God Part II" is an introduction to the Achtung Baby sound, and is a sequel of sorts to John Lennon's "God", his stark denunciation of everything from Elvis Presley to Jesus Christ.

The songs are also musically in line with the predecessors they honor. The punchy lead single, "Desire", for instance, sports a Bo Diddley beat. "Love Rescue Me" (featuring co-author Bob Dylan on vocals) and the live performance of "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (recorded with a church choir) are gospel songs. "When Love Comes To Town" is a blues rocker featuring B.B. King on guitar and vocals.

"Angel of Harlem", "Love Rescue Me" and "When Love Comes to Town" were recorded at Sun Studio in Memphis, Tennessee, where Elvis Presley, Roy Orbison, and others also recorded.

Some of the studio tracks were performed in concert on the Lovetown Tour, which began almost a year after Rattle and Hum's release.

Live performances

Most of the live footage is black-and-white indoor concert footage from the band's Denver, Colorado show on November 8, 1987 or outdoor concert footage from the band's Tempe, Arizona show on December 20, 1987.

The performance of Bob Dylan's "All Along the Watchtower" is from the band's impromptu "Save the Yuppies" concert in Justin Herman Plaza in San Francisco, California on November 11, 1987. The video intersperses the performance of the song with footage from the band's performance of "Pride" from the same show, during which Bono spray-painted "Rock and Roll Stops the Traffic" on the Villancourt Fountain. This caused a bit of controversy, and ultimately, the band paid to repair the damage and publicly apologized for the incident.

"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" is from the band's New York City show on September 28, 1987 and features the New Voices of Freedom, a gospel choir.

During "Silver and Gold", Bono explains that the song is an attack on apartheid.

"Sunday Bloody Sunday" is from the Denver show, which was performed on the day that a bomb killed eleven parade-goers in the Irish town of Enniskillen. As the band went into a long musical break, Bono condemned the violence in a furious mid-song rant—capped by an emotional cry of "Fuck the revolution!"—and led the crowd in a brief chant of "No more! No more!"

Track listing

"Helter Skelter" (live) – 3:07
"Van Diemen's Land" – 3:05
"Desire" – 2:59
"Hawkmoon 269" – 6:22
"All Along the Watchtower" (live) – 4:24
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (live) – 5:53
"Freedom For My People" – 0:38
"Silver and Gold" (live) – 5:49
"Pride (In The Name Of Love)" (live) – 4:27
"Angel of Harlem" – 3:49
"Love Rescue Me" – 6:24
"When Love Comes To Town" – 4:15
"Heartland" – 5:03
"God Part II" – 3:15
"The Star-Spangled Banner" – 0:43
"Bullet the Blue Sky" (live) – 5:36
"All I Want Is You" – 6:30

Video

"Helter Skelter" (live)
"Van Diemen's Land"
"Desire" (demo)
"Exit" / "Gloria" (live)
"I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For" (rehearsal)
"Freedom For My People"
"Silver and Gold" (live)
"Angel of Harlem" (demo)
"All Along the Watchtower" (live)
"In God's Country" (live)
"When Love Comes To Town" (rehearsal/live/recital)
"Heartland"
"Bad" / "Ruby Tuesday" / "Sympathy for the Devil" (live)
"Where the Streets Have No Name" (live)
"MLK" (live)
"With or Without You" (live)
"The Star-Spangled Banner" / "Bullet the Blue Sky" (live)
"Running To Stand Still" (live)
"Sunday Bloody Sunday" (live)
"Pride (In The Name Of Love)" (live)
"All I Want Is You"

Music by U2, words by Bono, except:

"Helter Skelter" is a Lennon-McCartney song.
"Van Diemen's Land" was written and performed solely by guitarist The Edge.
"Gloria", which appears as an excerpt in "Exit", was written by Van Morrison.
"Freedom For My People" is a short interlude written and performed by Sterling Magee on guitar and percussion and Adam Gussow on harmonica. Magee and Gussow later recorded three albums as the blues duo Satan and Adam. A full-length version of "Freedom For My People" can be found on the album Mother Mojo; Gussow's description of the duo's encounter with U2 can be found in his 1998 memoir, Mister Satan's Apprentice.
"All Along the Watchtower" was written by Bob Dylan.
"Ruby Tuesday" and "Sympathy for the Devil", both snippeted in "Bad", are Rolling Stones songs.
"Love Rescue Me" is based on an old gospel song and features lyrics co-written with Bob Dylan.
"The Star-Spangled Banner" was written by Francis Scott Key. The recording used here is an excerpt of Jimi Hendrix's famous Woodstock performance in 1969.

"Desire," "Angel of Harlem", "When Love Comes To Town", and "All I Want Is You" were released as singles.

All tracks were produced by Jimmy Iovine, except "Heartland", a left-over from The Joshua Tree that was produced by Brian Eno and Daniel Lanois.

Personnel

Bono--lead vocals
The Edge--guitar, vocals, lead vocals on "Van Diemen's Land"
Adam Clayton--bass guitar
Larry Mullen, Jr.--drums

The album also features a number of guest performers:

B.B. King--guitar and vocals on "When Love Comes To Town"
Bob Dylan--Hammond organ on "Hawkmoon 269", vocals on "Love Rescue Me"
The New Voices of Freedom--vocals on "I Still Haven't Found What I'm Looking For"
The Memphis Horns--horns on "Angel of Harlem" and "Love Rescue Me"
Benmont Tench--Hammond organ on "All I Want Is You"

External links

Discography entry at U2 Wanderer--Comprehensive details on various editions, cover scans, lyrics, and more.
Album lyrics--Searchable album lyrics.
Videography entry at U2 Wanderer--Similarly comprehensive entry about the movie.
U2 tours overview at U2-Vertigo-Tour.com--Includes setlists for every date on the Lovetown Tour.
Quotes and information--Detailed background on each song.
U2MoL--Contains fan interpretations and interview excerpts for each song.

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